Listening to the founders

7:39 PM,
Jan. 8, 2014

Written by

MICHAEL GERSON

A political backlash has commenced within the Republican Party against tea party and libertarian groups that have limited interest in securing Republican victories and majorities. Elected leaders, party officials and business groups have begun pushing back against self-destructive legislative strategies and unelectable primary candidates.

But the GOP political reaction often concedes a great deal of ideological ground to anti-government populism - what its advocates describe as "constitutionalism." Our national recovery, in this view, depends on returning to the severely ...